May Madness: Stanwick Leads Improved Team Offense for UVa

When you add Colin Briggs to Shamel and Rhamel Bratton, that’s 76 points from the 2011 season that Virginia was missing from its offense Saturday in the NCAA Semifinal against Denver. Those three ranked 3-4-5 in scoring for UVa coming into the Final Four, accounting for 24% of the Cavaliers’ offense.

This was the only game Briggs has missed this season — coach Dom Starsia said after the game that his junior middie didn’t play because of a team violation and does have a chance to play Monday — but the Brattons have pretty publicly missed Virginia’s last four games. Before the Penn game April 30, Shamel was dismissed from the team while Rhamel was suspended. (Rhamel hasn’t been activated since.)

There’s no question Virginia’s offense is different without the Brattons. Everyone has been careful to avoid the issue of whether it’s better, but the numbers and results certainly say that the Cavaliers are spreading the ball around more, getting more players involved and feeding better off quarterback Steele Stanwick.

Sixty-seven percent of Virginia’s goals in this four-game win streak (dating back to the 11-2 Penn win) have been assisted. The rest of the season? Fifty-one percent. That’s a pretty huge difference.

In the postgame press conference Saturday, the words “overhauled”, “retooled” and “transformed” were all used to describe the Cavs offense in the last four games.

“Their team is so different since the Bratton thing,” Denver coach Bill Tierney said. “Stanwick gets more touches now, and when your best player gets more touches, more things happen for your team.”

Tierney said his plan going into the weekend was to let Stanwick score, so the junior attackman didn’t involve his teammates. When they found out Briggs was out, Tierney felt even better about that strategy.

Stanwick finished with more goals (three) than assists (two) for just the fifth time this season, but eight different Cavs recorded points Saturday, which is actually their lowest total in this win streak (Cornell: eight; Bucknell: nine; and Penn: 10).

Against the Pioneers, attackmen Matt White (1G, 2A) and Mark Cockerton (3, 1), who Starsia said recently asked the coaches if he could do more now that he’s healthy, ran midfield, as Nick O’Reilly (1, 1) took the third attack spot alongside Stanwick and Chris Bocklet (3G). White typically ran with John Haldy (1G) and Rob Emery (1, 1), and frequently inverted behind the goal on Saturday.

“One thing that’s changed is we’re dodging a lot at X, playing a lot of two-man games” Bocklet said about the offensive evolution. “We’ve had guys stepping up every game and in practice. Everyone’s doing a little bit and we’re just moving quick and moving off-ball a lot and getting defensemen tired. We’re probably a pain to guard because we’re constantly setting picks and clicking as a team and playing team ball.”

Starsia said Saturday that he’s been clear with his players that the ball runs through Stanwick on every possession, and most importantly, “nobody minds.”

Heading into the postseason, the Tewaaraton Trophy seemed to be USILA Player and Attackman of the Year Rob Pannell’s to lose. Since then, all Stanwick’s done is score 20 points in four NCAA Tournament games, and is lined up for a shot at the record of 25 shared by Eamon McEneaney and Tim Goldstein (in three games, it should be noted).

Stanwick has to be the favorite now. And he also has a chance to win a national championship in his hometown.

“His real skill is making the people around him better,” Starsia said. “When you have someone like that, a point guard that lifts everyone, if you move smartly you’re going to get the ball back in a better spot. He’s a rare athlete that impacts all the people around him.”